Pharma PLI Scheme Gains Momentum with Rs 33,000 Crore Investments

The pharmaceutical sector has taken off within three years of the launch of the Production-Linked Incentive scheme, as per the reports. 

According to the latest data from the Department of Pharmaceuticals, all three components of the scheme- pharmaceuticals, bulk drugs and medical devices- have received significant interest from the industry. 

The pharmaceuticals sector has experienced investments totalling Rs 28,328 crore and has achieved a cumulative production of Rs 1.43 trillion as of April 2024. It represents a significant increase compared to January of the previous year, when pharmaceutical manufacturers had invested only about Rs 16,199 crore.

Similarly, the bulk drugs and medical devices verticals have seen a sharp jump in investments and production from January 2023 to April 2024. The investments in the bulk drugs category have 84% to Rs. 3,715 crore in 15 months to April 2024. 

According to the experts, the scheme has received interest from diverse pharma players, specifically in the areas where manufacturers depend highly on imports.

Besides this, the data of the DoP is evident in generating employment under the PLI scheme, as the employment rate spiked 145% over a year from 27,800 in January 2023 to 68, 228 in April 2023. Collectively, these schemes have a financial allocation of Rs 25,360 crore. 

Unnati Jadhav, a research analyst at K.R Choksey, said that “pharma companies (like Aurobindo Pharma) who have significant business in categories like API (active pharmaceuticals ingredients) have benefitted from the scheme while others who have lesser exposure to the API category or use APIs for their own consumption have not really been investing through PLI.”